ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday announced that more than 33,000 people affected by ethnic conflict have benefited from its humanitarian assistance endeavor in western Ethiopia.
A sudden ethnic violence in September last year, which broke out in Yaso locality in Ethiopia's western Benishangul Gumuz regional state, had forced thousands of civilians to flee to the neighboring district, Haro Limu, in Ethiopia's largest Oromia regional state.
The violence "left many dead and dozens injured," while those who escaped left everything behind and made it "to relative safety with just the clothes on their backs," the ICRC said in a statement on Monday.
Between December 2018 and mid-February 2019, the ICRC has conducted "several rounds of distribution of essential aid."
More than 33,000 displaced family members have benefited from the assistance, according to Tagash Zemed-Agegnehu, head of ICRC's distribution efforts in the affected area.
"We distributed plastic sheds, blankets, mats, jerry cans, cooking utensils and soaps to 5,541 families sheltered in different sites of Haro Limu district," Zemed-Agegnehu said.
According to ICRC, around 8,000 internally displaced families now live in the Haro Limu district following the ethnic-conflict that was erupted in Yaso.
ICRC's announcement came amid improving security situations in the East African country over the past few months.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) last week also resumed life-saving humanitarian food distribution in parts of Ethiopia, following interruptions over the last 11 months due to security issues.
The WFP, as one of the leading humanitarian support provider in the East African country, works with different partners in its efforts to address the humanitarian needs of drought and conflict affected people.
The WFP has been a major recipient of the humanitarian donation from the government of China, in which China has so far provided an emergency aid to Ethiopia totaling about 36.6 million U.S. dollars through four rounds of supports, making it the third largest food aid contributor in Ethiopia, according to figures from Ethiopia's National Disaster Risk Management Commission.
Speaking to Xinhua, Paul Anthem, Head of Communications, Donor Relations and Reports Unit at WFP Ethiopia, had previously said that the WFP has been receiving donations from the government of China for the past several years, especially for its relief and nutrition activities.
"The donations usually arrive at critical times when the country was in need of humanitarian assistance and millions required urgent nutritional support," Anthem had said.
